A Utah couple was arrested this week after a police investigation uncovered hideous abuse of their children.
Darren Justin Berriel, 35, faces seven counts of aggravated child abuse, and Rachelle Southwick, 32, has been charged with one of the same count, KSL reported.
An affidavit says the couple’s children — the affidavit did not say how many children or their ages — were removed from the home and interviewed by investigators last month.
“It was disclosed that one child witnessed Rachelle stomp on another sibling’s arm and sprain her arm. The witnessing child observed her sibling ‘crying bloody murder,’” according to a police booking affidavit. “A child also disclosed Rachelle biting their back with her teeth, making them bleed.”
Southwick also reportedly stabbed a child with a screwdriver, while one child told investigators about the time Berriel was “punching them in the face, knocking a tooth loose, and knocking them unconscious, stomping on their back causing pain, locking them in a room for days without food or bathroom usage.”
“The child reported having to urinate on the floor of the locked room,” the affidavit said.
“Additional reports of Darren hitting their face and neck with a belt, suffocating a child with a pillow, and being beaten with a black pole on their legs, causing tiger stripe marks on their lower extremities, were also documented,” the report said. “The child also reported being treated like a dog, being put in a kennel and having to eat dog food.”
Medical reports showed that one child was missing a tooth, with another chipped. The child said Berriel caused the injuries “with pliers,” the report says.
Police removed “several evidentiary items, including two screwdrivers with blood on them,” while executing a search warrant on Wednesday.
Officers also reported finding a room that locks from the outside with the carpet removed. A “distinct odor of urine” was noted in the room, according to KTVK.
The station said Berriel and Southwick both denied intentionally harming the children, saying all the injuries the children suffered were caused by accidents.
Berriel and Southwick were ordered held without bond.
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